Thursday, July 31, 2014

Friday Five - Training Love

I'm once again linking up with Courtney @Eat, Pray, Run DC, Mar @ Mar on the Run and Cynthia @You Signed Up For What?! for the Friday Five!

This week...

5 things I love about marathon training.

It just started this week in fact!  Seriously, I have been looking forward to it as soon as I got into my "A" marathon and get a goal.

It feels good to have a "plan" again.  Without one, I kind of flounder.  I run here and there, but mostly junk miles.  No speed work, no long runs.  I haven't even hit double digits since my last half in April.  That's sad for me.


I think I've lost some fitness.  At least cardiovascularly speaking.  Pure barre has been great for toning, but it does not mimic the intense heart rate that running provides.  I kind of feel like I'm starting from scratch sometimes.


This year's marathon season holds my biggest challenges yet.  A time goal for my November race, to finish the Dallas Marathon strong after the abysmal outing I had there two years ago, back to back FULL marathons with 5k warm ups on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, did someone say ultra?



In some bizarre way, I look forward to those 16, 18 and 20 mile training runs.  I always do them on the weekend's my son is not with me to avoid the mommy guilt, but there is something I get excited about leading up to them.  Perhaps I just like to watch TV uninterrupted?

Food.  Not that I don't eat the rest of the year, but I kind of feel like I can get away with a little more when I'm running 30 miles a week.  I don't feel bad about eating those cupcakes or snacking all day.  While I'm really trying to hone in on nutrition this year, I'm human, and yes, I run so I can eat.  Cupcakes mostly.


Have a great weekend!!


13 comments:

  1. I LOVE having a plan....and I love long runs too. Sounds like you might be another treadmill runner like me from your TV watching comment. Do you listen to podcasts at all? That's what I enjoy on those long runs. Have a great weekend! (by the way, I'm M @readeatwriterun but blogspot won't let me use that as an id)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I LOVE the treadmill!! I love running outside when I can, but the TX heat is brutal in the summer. I recently started listening to Another Mother Runner shows...any others you would recommend? I burn through those pretty fast.

      Delete
  2. I always feel better when I have a plan and I am training for something. Good luck with the marathon training sounds like you are enjoying so far.
    Confessions of A Mother Runner

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having a good training plan is crucial to marathon training. Don't feel so bad about enjoy uninterrupted television. I'm guilty of this too! We deserve it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good luck with your training! I know you'll nail it!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't have a plan yet, but while I'm thinking of trying to do a Marathon in a few months from now, I'm researching different methods (I like the sound of Hanson and FIRST methods, but I haven't done a lot of research yet).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Axel, I've done several....Galloway for my first, Higdon for my second, writing my own, Runkeeper and last year I had a coach. I've enjoyed them all and have seen improvement in every one of them.

      Delete
  6. I started marathon training too this summer ( my first). I have a 21 miler scheduled on December 21. I wonder how that's gonna go over!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like how those dates match up! 21 on the 21st! Good luck in your training!

      Delete
  7. Good luck with your training! I like to have a plan but have been floundering about this summer with running...maybe the Houston heat has something to do with that...ha
    Running for cupcakes is totally acceptable :)

    ReplyDelete